Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Friends of Terra Cotta Records
- Dates:
- 1923-1986
- Creators:
- Caldwell, Kenneth, Gladding McBean, Henry, Margaret, Knecht, Gary, Look, David, Lowell, Waverly B., National Terra Cotta Society, American Terra Cotta Program, Brick Institute of America, and Carey, Alice Ross, 1949-2013
- Extent:
- 3 Linear Feet: 2 cartons, 1 document box
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of Item], Friends of Terra Cotta Records, Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Most of the records were created by or collected by the San Francisco office of the Friends of Terra Cotta. The records of the organization are organized into sub-series including administration, correspondence, the FOTC Newsletter, chapters, awards, programs and events; and workshops and seminars.
The research files are arranged in four subseries: [1] Terra Cotta organizations such as the American Terra Cotta program (1972-1975), Architectural Terra Cotta Institute (1956-1957), Brick Institute of America (1965-1973), National Terra Cotta Society (1923-1934), and the Tile & Architectural Ceramic Society (1982), [2] Information on the history, technological elements, and preservation of architectural terra cotta, [3] Terra Cotta Companies: the bulk of this material relates to the Gladding McBean Company in California. It includes copies of their publication Shapes of Clay and a few product catalogs, and [4] random individual terra cotta clad buildings by location or building type.
- Biographical / historical:
-
The Friends of Terra Cotta, Inc. (FOTC) was founded in Lincoln California, on April 30, 1981 by a group of concerned preservationists including architects, historians, and archivists who were lunching, following a tour of the Gladding McBean & Co terra cotta plant. Gladding McBean & Co. was the last remaining original producers of architectural terra cotta. David W. Look, an architect in the National Park Service was the individual primarily responsible for this endeavor.
FOTC was formed to raise the awareness and appreciation of the public, particularly architects and owners of terra-cotta buildings through educational forums, walking tours, publications, exhibits, tours to Gladding McBean & Co, and campaigns to save threatened terra-cotta buildings. Publications included a semi-annual newsletter, pamphlets, and essays. It also created and collected research material including reprinting early terra cotta catalogues. The second meeting of FOTC was held a month later during National Preservation Week; and that October a meeting was held in Washington DC at the annual meeting of the Association for Preservation Technology (APT). That first year there were monthly meeting and lectures and tours. For the first four years, archivist Waverly Lowell served as the FOTC Newsletter editor.
The organization's headquarters were in San Francisco. During the first year chapters were established in New York and Chicago. By 1983 there were 700 members in 50 states, Canada and Japan. Most activities had stopped by 1986.
Sources: Friends of Terra Cotta Newsletter and records
- Custodial history:
-
The FOTC records were collected by archivist Waverly Lowell and retained by architect Alice Carey. They were donated by W. Lowell
- Arrangement:
-
The FOTC records are arranged into two series: the records of the organization and research materials.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
- Subjects:
- Architecture
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-07-31 23:25:04 UTC .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Collection is open for research
- Terms of access:
-
All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in the collection should be discussed with the Curator.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of Item], Friends of Terra Cotta Records, Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley.
- Location of this collection:
-
230 Bauer Wurster Hall #1820Berkeley, CA 94720-1820, US
- Contact:
- (510) 642-5124